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5 Stories to Watch on the Upper East Side in 2017

By Shaye Weaver | December 27, 2016 12:06pm
 Keep a lookout for developments in five Upper East Stories in 2017.
Keep a lookout for developments in five Upper East Stories in 2017.
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DNAinfo/Shaye Weaver/Cornell Tech/Amy Zimmer

UPPER EAST SIDE — It's been a long year.

The Upper East Side saw tons of real estate development on Second Avenue while a number of small mom-and-pop shops, like Mimi's Pizza, went out of business.

There were also some terrifying crimes, like when a homeless man crammed feces down a woman's pants on East 91st Street.

A handful of stories will continue to be in the headlines in 2017 that you should keep your eye on:

►  Watch Real Estate Prices and Development Continue to Boom Along Second Avenue After the New Subway Line Opens

For years, business and development along Second Avenue was dormant while subway construction was underway. Now, with a Jan. 1 opening planned, the reality of a new transportation hub is close at hand. Already, new restaurants have popped up along the stretch and rental prices have spiked in anticipation. And it's been a long time coming for business owners in the area, who have faced major financial setbacks thanks to the project.

►  District 2 Middle Schools' Mysterious Selection Criteria Were Unveiled For the First Time. How will Having the Information Change the Admissions Process?

After several years of asking the city's Department of Education to release District 2 middle school admissions rubrics, the Community Education Council for District 2 succeeded in getting its hands on the criteria to help families be more well-informed when applying. Four of the schools — East Side Middle School, Salk School of Science, the Clinton School and Lab Middle School — require students to list them as their first choice school if they want to get into their programs. Now that the community is aware of how schools select students, it's possible that there will be a movement to make it fairer to students, according to Eric Goldberg, a CEC2 member.

►  Cornell Tech’s Roosevelt Island Summer 2017 Opening

Cornell Tech's Roosevelt Island campus will open next summer with a new hotel, conference center, an incubator for researchers and small businesses and an academic building on the southern tip of the island. The buildings have been rising higher every month and new businesses have slowly trickled onto the island's sleepy Main Street, including a new cafe, an art gallery and, soon, a Mexican eatery.

Will the number of pedestrian deaths and injuries on the Upper East Side continue to increase?

In October, DNAinfo New York found that the number of pedestrians struck and killed by vehicles on the Upper East Side has risen in recent years. At least 26 were killed in the last five years and at least seven were killed just this year, according to officials. In fact, the number of pedestrian deaths since 2011 was by far the most common type of traffic-related fatalities on the Upper East Side, DOT data shows. Seeing this across the city, the DOT started a pilot program this fall meant to slow down left-turning cars, which it says contribute to a large number of collisions. Slow turn boxes were installed at a number of intersections across the city to slow them down. Will these measures work?

The NextGeneration Mixed-Income High Rise at the Holmes Towers Will Take Shape

Despite residents of the Holmes Towers on East 93rd Street between First Avenue and the FDR Drive rejecting the New York City Housing Authority's plans to build a new mixed-income high rise on their property, NYCHA is holding a series of workshops where residents can weigh in on its design. Sept. 30 was the deadline for developers to submit proposals for the high rise, so NYCHA should be announcing the winner some time soon.